Burney's Bytes will focus primarily on the local preps sports scene, but will also touch on some college and pro athletics, mostly in regards to athletes who hail and have played high school sports in Oakland County. My goal for the blog is to be conversational and anecdotal, a more relaxed and free formal take on high school athletics than you see in regular game day coverage.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Pantheon - Part I

This winter the Catholic League will be celebrating its 80th anniversary by selecting its Top 80 athletes of all-time.

Burney wants in on the action.

I've compiled two Top 25 lists. One will be a ranking of the CHSL's Top 25 athletes of all-time and the other will be a breakdown of the Top 25 athletes that I personally saw play in high school.

Part 1

Burney's Top 25 –Catholic League Athletes I've Personally Seen Play

1 Maurice Seawright (OLSM) – Although he flamed out at the college level, Seawright was a dominating two-sport athlete, taking the Eaglets to state titles on both the gridiron (WR) and the hardwood (Point Guard). This kid defined the word dynamic and is a classic tale sure to go down in the "what could have been" Hall of Fame; Pro-grade talent, questionable attitude and behavior

2 Derrick Alexander (Detroit Benedictine) – Alexander was one of the best prep wideouts I ever saw play. He was equally comfortable stretching defenses vertically with his speed or going across the middle and making the tough grab in traffic. On the basketball court, DA was an all-league swingman and defensive specialist. His skills took him to UofM and then on to a lengthy career in the NFL

3 David Bowens (OLSM) – Pure power!!!! Bowens was a beast on the football field and the basketball floor. Recently retired from a 12-year career in the NFL, DB was a force of nature rushing the passer and catching passes from the tight end spot on the Eaglets '94 state title squad. As a hoopster, he was a rugged, yet smooth presence in the post, who made a name for himself as the best slam dunker in Oakland County during the mid-1990s.

4 Kalin Lucas (OLSM) – Simply a great prep and college point guard. Had a slew of electrifying performances in his years running the offense for TEAM PORRITT

5 Braylon Edwards (HW Bishop Gallagher) – "The Bray" could do things on the gridiron I've seen few others ever do. Quite a good basketball player too in his days repping BG

6 Casey Rogowski (Novi Detroit CC) – Led CC to state titles on both football field and baseball diamond. Physical specimen of an athlete and a superior athlete who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox out of high school

7 Andrew Mitchell (Detroit East Catholic) – Other than Durrell Summers, Mitchellwas the best small school hoopster to come out of Metro Detroit area in the past 15 years. He was a rock-solid and playmaking floor general and hit a game-winning trifecta at the buzzer to send East Catholic to a state championship his senior year in high school. In college he was an all-conference point guard in college at Kent State where he was teammates with Antonio Gates and led the Golden Flashes into a pair of Sweet 16s.

8 Matt Conway (Birmingham Brother Rice) – Conway is the most naturally gifted hitter I have seen this past decade. He was just so lethal at the dish, you could literally see opposing pitchers break into a sweat when he came up. Currently, MC is tearing up the ACC at Wake Forest and appears bound for a shot at the SHOW

9 Kevonte Martin-Manley (Birmingham Brother Rice) – What a hard worker this kid is!!!! ALL HEART, BABY!!! Outside of Seawright and Bowens, Martin-Manley and Allen Robinson (OLSM) are the two best two-sport studs I've seen compete in the CHSL

10 Lauren Robak (WOLL) – May I present to youMrs. Fourth Quarter, three straights Catholic League crowns and back-to-back state titles…ENOUGH SAID!!!!!

About Me

Scott M. Burnstein grew up in Bloomfield Hills and attended school at Birmingham Roeper, where he earned multiple varsity letters in both basketball and baseball, and has been following the local preps scene since the 1980's. Mr. Burnstein attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received a bachelors of arts degree in political science, and the John Marshall Law School, in Chicago, Illinois, where he got his Juris Doctrate. He has covered high school sports for both the Detroit Free Press and the Oakland Press, and is the author of the 2007 regional best-selling book, The Motor City Mafia - A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit, Family Affair - Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in The Chicago Mafia (2010), Mafia Prince - The Crazy Phil Leonetti Story (2012) and The Detroit True Crime Chronicles (2013).